In the (Entertainment) News – 12/9/08

Ah, once again I seem to have fallen into some vortex o’ doom somewhere. Between work and a shameful addiction to bad holiday movies (seriously, they’re almost all about “sad lonely women needs a man for Christmas” – that kind of bad), I’ve really not kept tabs on much lately. And let’s face it – there’s been a lot of real news to keep a person occupied, too.

Now that the heavy stuff is out of the way, let’s start with Oprah [article removed]. Oh, Oprah, please don’t say such things. I’m torn about between reacting as Kate Harding over at Shapely Prose does – feeling for Oprah because she suffers the same body unacceptance so many of us struggle with and being concerned that by Oprah heaping shame on herself, she’s only making public unacceptance for quote unquote fat people okay. It’s not okay, but if Oprah is embarrassed about her body… *sigh*

In a similar vein, I stumbled across this article, which dissects why the “best” female form might not be the hourglass shape apparently coveted (I missed that memo. I have an hourglass shape if someone wants to trade me.) by pop culture. I’m including the link here because the slant of the article goes quickly from scientific reasoning to “the menz are looking for womenz that look like this not that“. And because I like the last line – “And from a woman’s perspective, men’s preferences are not the only thing that matters.” Gasp! Say it isn’t so!

On a lighter note, Bratz Dolls [article since removed] may soon be a thing of the past. Now if we could just get rid of Twilight, I might think there’s hope for humanity after all. 😉

Meanwhile, Britney Spears continues to be someone to talk about. Some people think she doesn’t have the right to say K-Fed isn’t a good dad because of her own checkered past. Hmmmm, really now? Why not? 1) She seems to have made great strides in getting herself pulled together, and 2) she’s not saying anything the rest of us haven’t been thinking for years. I have to wonder if people would bat an eyelash if K-Fed criticized her … oh, wait. He did and I don’t recall anyone doubting his right to do so.

On a final note, Forbes reports that it still pays better to be a man in Hollywood, using all the “reasoning” one would expect. Not news.

That’s it for now – I wish you all a great holiday season, whether you celebrate anything or not. 🙂

Comments

It really annoys me how male actors salaries are justified. OK so actors are paid too much generally but in a crude sense when you break down profit men are no more profitable than women in leads.
So much was made of Jodie Foster’s film The Brave One being unsuccessful and blaming her gender for the failure when her previous film Flightplan had made hundreds of millions and she was instrumental in its success. This year two female led films have made an enormous amount of money. But Hollywood still makes moronic claims about men being more profitable.

I’m baffled by the initial assertion of the body shape article. Hourglass figures haven’t been “in” since before the first wave of heroin chic in the ’80s. Are they actually making a comeback that just hasn’t gotten this far north yet? From my experience, the fashion industry is designing women’s clothing for people with a hip-to-waist ratio approaching 1. It’s nearly impossible to find pants that fit my body shape off the rack unless I’m willing to wear things with a high lycra content. (I’m not. I did enough of that taking dance classes for 15 years.) More often than not, I end up buying pants that fit through the hips and thighs, then taking several inches out of the waist.

Meanwhile, Britney Spears continues to be someone to talk about. Some people think she doesn’t have the right to say K-Fed isn’t a good dad because of her own checkered past.

I used to have quite a low opinion of Britney Spears, but lately, I’ve become more sympathetic. Quoting the linked article:

“Now, before the world experienced what Spears calls her “crazy” year, we hated K-Fed. Most of us would’ve agreed that he was the cheesy, crooked-hat wearing leech who stole Brit’s heart, money, spunk and basically ruined her career.”

I don’t have a high opinion of Spears as an entertainer and doubt I ever will, but I’ve always felt sympathy for her – she was shoved into the limelight before she was anywhere near old enough to understand what was going on. When that happens, you don’t get a childhood, and miss out on valuable bits of personality development and socialization. And being rich is no compensation for that – I mean, I hope she appreciates her good fortune there, but it doesn’t replace what she’s lost and doesn’t protect her from making painful mistakes that most people easily avoid with no conscious effort whatsoever.

Robin, no, the hourglass shape has never REALLY been in since… gee, I think it was Marilyn Monroe’s time, because the Twiggy look gained popularity in the 60s and ever since, women’s clothes have been made to the shape of thirteen-year-old boys. For a while, it was okay to have a butt if you were Jennifer Lopez, but if that got extended to anyone else on the planet, I didn’t hear about it. (Of course, on Planet Earth, I hope most women realize that men who like women are less particular than the fashion world thinks, and any men who actually ARE that particular are usually self-absorbed to the point where there are psychiatric terms for it, and should never be dated by anyone at all, so their kind may die out.)

I’m baffled by the initial assertion of the body shape article. Hourglass figures haven’t been “in” since before the first wave of heroin chic in the ’80s. Are they actually making a comeback that just hasn’t gotten this far north yet?

Out here in reality, I think hourglass figures get a decent shake (unless they’re TOO hourglassy, of course), but in Hollywood, modeling (print and runway)? Hardly.

And being rich is no compensation for that – I mean, I hope she appreciates her good fortune there, but it doesn’t replace what she’s lost and doesn’t protect her from making painful mistakes that most people easily avoid with no conscious effort whatsoever.

No, money doesn’t replace education – both book learnin’ and regular old street smarts. You don’t learn things if you aren’t given the chance to experience anything real.

I’ll never be a big fan of her music, but it’s really rich to say she doesn’t have the right to a negative opinion of her kids’ father if he’s a complete tool. (I’m not saying K-Fed is, because I don’t know him, but he doesn’t seem like father-of-the-year material…)

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